Strategic Combat Quick Reference

This article is intended to be a quick reference for players to use during a strategic combat. For a comprehensive explaination of the rules of warfare, see other articles in the Warfare category, chiefly Warfare, Strategic Combat, and Combat Units.

Battlefield Champions

Characters can take one action per round, before their units act (Battlefield Champions).
Characters can join units, improving their fighting capability but exposing the character to enemy actions. This is done as part of certain character actions (Battlefield Champions).

Note:
Characters are not limited to the actions listed on this site. A character can take other actions at DM discretion, but these actions should be relatively simple, quick to resolve, and be focused on more indirect impacts on the battle. This system focuses on armies fighting armies, and character actions should enable that end rather than detract from it.

Unit Actions

Actions

Each unit gets a move and action (typically an attack) each round. All units act together with their controlling battlefield champion.

Facing

Units must be facing another unit to attack it (units only face a single tile). Units get one free facing change each round before their action.

Engagement

Units must actively engage another unit to be considered in melee (free action, requires facing). Disengaging requires an action, otherwise any engaged unit gets a free attack as they break away. If engaged with more than two units, all but two can take a free attack regardless (chosen by the disengaging unit).

Attacks

Units make attack rolls by rolling a d20 and adding their attack modifier against the defender's defense. If the attack fails by 10 or more it is a miss. Failure by less than 10 is a glancing blow (half damage, rounded down). Success by less than 10 is a hit (normal damage). Success by 10 or more is a critical (1.5x damage, rounded down). A natural 20 deals double damage (does not stack with crit).

Ranged Increments

Units with range increments take a -2 penalty to attack for each increment beyond the first to the target. Ranged units can attack up to 5 increments distant (-8 to hit), and artillery can attack up to 10 increments distant (-18 to hit).

Retaliatory Attacks

Each unit gets one retaliatory attack per round, which they can make against any unit they are facing that attacks them in melee.

Morale

All morale checks are DC 20. Some unit abilities force checks, and units make morale checks to avoid breaking whenever they take damage while diminished (including the damage that causes them to become diminished).

Diminished

Units at or below half health must make a morale check every time they take damage (starting with the damage that reduces them to/below half), shattering on a failed check.

Shattered Units

Units that shatter leave the battlefield immediately, taking automatic hit damage from any unit engaged in melee with them. Those units may choose to pursue.

Pursuit

A unit can choose to pursue another unit that shatters while engaged with them. They gain the Pursuing condition until the end of their next turn and move into the shattered unit's square.

Resting

A unit not engaged in combat can take an action to rest, removing Winded, downgrading Debilitated to Winded, and removing any fear condition it may have (Unsettled, Wavering, or Terrorized.

Battlefield Features

Reinforcement Zones

Each army has at least 1 reinforcement zone. It is where broken units retreat to, and where reserve units can be placed mid-battle. Some Battlefield Equipment must be placed inside a reinforcement zone. A reinforcement zone does not function while an enemy unit occupies any of its tiles.